Chillicothe's garbage debacle shows mayor can't define his own role

Since the community has been concerned with what has transpired with garbage collection since the beginning of this year, I have had meetings with the mayor to discuss the issue. In addition, I have attended most of the City Council meetings expressing my concern that taxpayers are not getting the services that we are paying for. To add insult to injury, our garbage fees were raised by 50 percent. Even with the increase, the residents of Chillicothe on many occasions have had to cope with their garbage not being picked up on their regularly scheduled day or the city being burdened with the cost of overtime to accomplish this task.

In the past, refuse workers were assigned to three routes.

With the city's financial woes, the mayor decided to cut refuse workers and operate with two routes instead of three. The Mayor assured everyone that garbage pickup could be accomplished with two routes, and further stated that they would not return to three routes in the future. At a recent meeting for service and parks, the Mayor was asked if the refuse workers were back to three routes. lt was obvious that he was reluctant to share this information, but conceded that they had indeed returned to running three routes, three days a week.

Two suggestions have been made for solving the garbage pickup problem; more importantly, suggestions that would not cost the taxpayers any more money.

Look at privatization of services. Even though the mayor stated months ago that he would seek bids from private companies, he stated in the recent budget meeting that he had not moved forward with seeking bids. If this could result in a savings to taxpayers, he has a fiduciary responsibility to explore that possibility. Perhaps his reluctance to do so stems from the fact that a portion of the garbage fee goes into the general fund and can be used for purposes other than garbage pickup.

The administration has said repeatedly that they operate with a lack of manpower, so I inquired about the General Relief workers that the city used for a number of years. The mayor has not utilized GR workers since January of this year. Was this done to appease the Union? The GR workers did not cost the city any money and performed duties in the parks and service departments From the overall appearance of the city, it is obvious we need help with cleaning it up and to use their help with no cost to the taxpayers.

The mayor should be reminded that his responsibility is to the citizens and taxpayers of the community, not the unions. Through his own admission, the mayor has continued to negotiate with the unions to avoid grievances. There always have been grievances and there will continue to be grievances. Grievances should be addressed and responded to according to the terms and conditions of the bargaining agreement. if the mayor continually makes concessions to the union, this will ultimately set dangerous precedents for the city to deal with after he has completed his term.

It is apparent that Mayor Everson is unable or unwilling to define his role as Mayor. There is a continuing lack of leadership and vision on his part. It is time for him to determine if he has the capability of leading the city in a positive direction. If he continues to fail in working for the best interests of the citizens of Chillicothe, he needs to step aside and make room for someone who has the city's best interests at heart.

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Chillicothe's garbage debacle shows mayor can't define his own role

Editor, the Gazette: Since the community has been concerned with what has transpired with garbage collection since the beginning of this year, I have had meetings with the mayor to discuss the issue.